Artefact

Dear Histonetters
I would like to thank those who had a go at the unknown artefact. If you
have not yet seen the artefact or would like a refresher the site is
http://home.primus.com.au/royellis
Below are the answers that have been received so far:
1 Some kind of plant seed remnant.
2 The remains of some medication/tablet.
3 Plant material, the pattern is similar to mouse chow seen in the gut of
mice
4 Alternaria
5 Sarcina or Sarcina-like bacteria
My own guess was some form of vegetable cell since the nucleus appears
homogenous and there is a well defined cell border. My only concern was the
small size of the structure. But since investigating Sarcina (micrococcus
luteus and varians) I think Micrococcus might be correct. Micrococcus are
large cocci appearing in groups of 4 which are always present in the human
mouth. In the micrographs squamous cells (from the mouth) can be seen close
to the artefact. Another factor which supposts micrococci is that a group of
4 micrococci are about 7-8 microns in size (the same size as a red cell).
This can be clearly seen in the 100x micrograph on the WEB page.
My thanks to David Taylor dtaylor@kingmower.com.au for the interesting
artefact.
Regards
Roy Ellis
roy.ellis@imvs.sa.gov.au